{"id":358499,"date":"2025-12-16T05:55:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T05:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/358499\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T05:55:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T05:55:15","slug":"is-stuart-skinner-trade-bait-why-the-pittsburgh-penguins-might-move-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/358499\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Stuart Skinner Trade Bait? Why the Pittsburgh Penguins Might Move Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stuart<\/a>Amidst swirling trade rumors, Pittsburgh Penguins fans make their feelings known to newly acquired goaltender Stuart Skinner during pregame warmups. One fan\u2019s sign pleads, “PLEASE DON’T GO STUART,” highlighting the uncertainty surrounding his future with the team.<\/p>\n

The ink is barely dry on the trade that sent Tristan Jarry to Edmonton<\/a>, yet the hockey world is already buzzing with speculation that Stuart Skinner\u2019s<\/a> tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins could be incredibly short-lived.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a Penguins fan scratching your head, looking at the crowded crease, you aren\u2019t alone. With the acquisition of Skinner, the Pens suddenly have a logjam in net. But according to insider Frank Seravalli<\/a>, this might be by design. The strategy isn\u2019t necessarily to fix the goaltending for the next five years with Skinner; it might be to rehabilitate his value and flip him to a desperate contender for high-value draft assets.<\/p>\n

Analyzing the \u201cAsset Flip\u201d Strategy<\/p>\n

Here is my personal take: This makes perfect sense for where Pittsburgh is right now. Skinner is 27 years old with a manageable $2.6 million expiring cap hit. In the modern NHL, that is a bargain for a starting-caliber goalie, even one fighting consistency issues.<\/p>\n

Skinner\u2019s numbers (.891 SV%, 2.83 GAA) aren\u2019t winning Vezinas, but we saw what he did just before leaving Edmonton\u2014allowing two or fewer goals in four of his last five starts. The talent is there. The consistency is the ghost that haunts him.<\/p>\n

If Pittsburgh can showcase Skinner for a month\u2014let him play behind a structured defense and regain that \u201celite spurts\u201d confidence\u2014his trade value skyrockets. Contenders always need goaltending insurance at the NHL trade deadline<\/a>. If the Penguins believe in prospect Sergey Murashov<\/a> (despite his recent 6-goal rough patch) and Arturs Silovs<\/a>, Skinner becomes a luxury they don\u2019t need, but an asset they can cash in on.<\/p>\n

The Risk of Relying on Youth<\/p>\n

However, there is danger here. Both Murashov and Silovs have been shelled in recent outings. If the Penguins move Skinner too fast and the young guns aren\u2019t ready, things get ugly. But from an asset management standpoint, flipping Skinner for a 2nd or 3rd round pick feels like the savvy move regarding the long-term rebuild.<\/p>\n

Finding the latest Pittsburgh Penguins news<\/p>\n

For the absolute latest updates on this developing story, make sure to bookmark nhltraderumor.com<\/a>. We are also running our massive Fantasy Hockey Pool<\/a> where you can win real cash prizes\u2014it\u2019s the best community in hockey. Also, check our \u201cGame Day\u201d section to find out how to watch the Penguins game on TV today<\/a>. Don\u2019t miss a beat; sign up for our newsletter below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amidst swirling trade rumors, Pittsburgh Penguins fans make their feelings known to newly acquired goaltender Stuart Skinner during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5113],"tags":[8659,5,4,118,1469,100,5216,46835,157],"class_list":{"0":"post-358499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-penguins","8":"tag-arturs-silovs","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-penguins","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","14":"tag-pittsburghpenguins","15":"tag-sergey-murashov","16":"tag-stuart-skinner"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115727704053018532","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}